I can remember very vividly the first slice of Hummingbird cake I ever ate. I was at the hospital waiting on my best friends daughter to be born and decided I needed a cup of coffee from the coffee cart. The cart also sold cake and I always need cake, sooooo. At first I thought the cake was a carrot cake so I just pointed to it and asked for slice.

Well, it was not carrot cake and I was in love from the first bite. I ran back over to a ask what I was eating to learn it was actually a Hummingbird cake. I had never in all my southern life eaten a hummingbird cake. I had to google it to figure out what is in it. It definitely looks carrot cake-esq. Instead of carrots it has crushed pineapple, and bananas to keep it nice and moist, and pecans and coconut for some crunch.

Cream cheese frosting has always been my favorite on just about any cake, and this is no exception. This cake reminds me of summer and It will forever remind me of the day sweet Teegan was born.

This classic southern cake is not hard to veganize either. We used starch and aquafaba to replace the eggs, vegan butter, and vegan cream cheese. It’s that easy and so delicious! Also, no actual hummingbirds were harmed in the making of this cake. You can rest easy!

INGREDIENTS:

You will need 3, 8 inch round cake pans, and parchment paper for this recipe

3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups whipped aquafaba
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup neutral tasting oil like grape seed or canola
2 cups mashed bananas (5 - 6 small to medium bananas)
1 can crushed pineapple (8 oz), drained
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup shredded coconut

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

3/4 cup vegan cream cheese
1/2 cup vegan butter
5 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, all spice, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
Make aquafaba according to directions. Set aside.
Mix 1/2 cup of water with three tablespoons of starch. Beat the starch, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla together in a large bowl. Add the oil. Next beat in the bananas and pineapple until the bananas are good and mashed up, and everything is well combined.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, just until everything is nice and evenly incorporated.
Stir in the nuts and coconut.
Lastly, fold the whipped aquafaba into the batter, just until it is incorporated. Try not to over mix it.
Prepare all three cake pans by coating each pan with butter. Line each pan with a 8 inch circle of parchment paper. Just trace a circle onto the parchment using the bottom of the pan as your guide, cut it out, and place into the the bottom of each pan. Coat the parchment in butter as well, then add a little flour to each pan to coat, shaking out any excess flour. Divide the batter evenly between the three pans.
Bake cakes for 25 - 30 minutes, or until a cake tester or skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool for about 15 - 20 minutes in the pans. Turn them out onto wire cooling racks to finish cooling.
While the cakes are cooling prepare the frosting by beating the cream cheese and butter together in a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using an electric hand mixer. Add in the vanilla, then slowly beat in the sugar and salt until you have the desired consistency. You need the frosting on the stiffer side to keep the cakes from sliding apart.
Once cakes have completely cooled, divide the frosting into thirds. Frost the first layer and sprinkle with a thin layer of extra pecans if you have any leftover. Top with the next layer, frost, and add a thin layer of leftover coconut. Add the top layer and frost. You can top the cake with more nuts, or nuts and coconut. You do not have to add nuts and coconut between the layers, we just prefer to do so if we have leftovers.
Slice and serve. Store any leftovers in the fridge. This just keeps the cream cheese from getting too soft.